Founded in 1898 as a small trolley park near Pittsburgh, Kennywood was begun by the Monongahela Street Railway company, which was controlled by Andrew Mellon. Having survived many decades of challenges including the Great Depression and World War II, Kennywood continued to adapt, and thrive. Today it still boasts two major buildings that date from 1898 and by the masterful blending of great American amusement park traditions with the leading edge amusement park technology of today makes Kennywood a park not to be missed. It has clearly earned the proud distinction to be one of "Americas Finest Traditional Amusement Parks."

Kennywood Park and Kennywood Entertainment News

April 14, 2011

Kennywood Amusement Park Set For May 7 Opening

Kennywood’s team members are working hard to prepare the park for the kick off of the 2011 summer season.
Over the past few months, the park was busy with off-season projects as crews completed upgrades to several parts of the park in anticipation of i... Read More »

April 07, 2011

Do you know a family that deserves the keys to Lake Compounce?

For the second year in a row, Lake Compounce, the oldest, continuously operating amusement park in the country, will honor one very special, and deserving family with the ‘Keys to the Park.’
The family will experience a backstage tour, as well as unl... Read More »

February 17, 2011

Behind the screams: Kennywood in winter

On a recent workday, crews erected tents on portions of the Thunderbolt track to protect them from the elements while they replaced wooden supports on the historic coaster. A burn barrel nearby gives workers a brief but welcome respite from the frigid tem... Read More »

A spokeswoman for Kennywood Entertainment says the family-owned amusement park chain has approved its sale to a Spanish firm that manages dozens of amusement, animal and water parks in the United States and Europe. Madrid-based Parques Reunidos hopes to c... Read More »

March 11, 2008

Kennywood owners divided on foreign sale

The sale of Kennywood Park is proving not to be as smooth a ride as management had bargained for. The deal to sell the storied amusement park and four sister venues to Parques Reunidos of Spain awaits approval from the Kennywood founders' dozens of heirs.... Read More »

December 11, 2007

New Chapter in Kennywood Entertainment History Announced

Kennywood Entertainment of Pittsburgh announced today that it has entered into an agreement to sell its amusement park holdings, including Kennywood in West Mifflin, PA, Idlewild & SoakZone in Ligonier, PA, Sandcastle Waterpark in West Homestead, PA and N... Read More »

September 07, 2007

Kennywood Ranked Among Nation's Top Amusement Parks

Kennywood Park is getting major props and has been ranked as one of the best amusement parks in the world in Amusement Today. Rides like the Thunderbolt, Phantom's Revenge and Noah's Ark helped boost the park's ranking, which was stacked up against some h... Read More »

Kennywood continues a time-honored tradition: Nationality Days! For nearly a century groups have celebrated their ethnic heritage at the popular Western Pennsylvania amusement park. Dates are as follows. (Note: First year of picnic follows in parenthesis)... Read More »

July 22, 2007

Kennywood jury awards family $1.2M

An Allegheny County jury Friday awarded the family of a Monroeville woman $1.21 million in compensatory damages more than five years after she was killed in a pavilion collapse at Kennywood. Stephanie Wilkerson, 29, died May 31, 2002, when a strong storm... Read More »

June 29, 2007

Celebrate America Festival at Kennywood amusement park!

Kennywood, America’s favorite traditional amusement park, invites
guests to join in the fun at Celebrate America, beginning Sunday, July 1 and continuing
through Friday, July 6. The festival gives Kennywood a platform to show its best colors – red, whit... Read More »

May 03, 2007

Kennywood Amusement Park About to Open for 108th Season

Kennywood amusement park, begins another exciting year by combining the best of the old with the best of the new -- including Cosmic Chaos, an out of this world thrill ride, and SS Kenny, a family tugboat ride in Kiddieland. Given overwhelming audience ap... Read More »

May 02, 2007

Kennywood operators buy NH amusement park

Kennywood Entertainment, which operates Kennywood and Sandcastle amusement parks in the Pittsburgh area, on Tuesday said it purchased Story Land, a New Hampshire amusement park. Financial terms of the deal between Kennywood and the Morrell Corp. were not... Read More »

Most of West Mifflin council is vehemently opposed to the state House of Representatives passing a bill exempting Kennywood Park from the state amusement tax.
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Borough Solicitor Michael Adams read a letter during Tuesday's council meeting regarding the situation between West Mifflin and Kennywood.

Mary Lou Rosemeyer, publicity director at Kennywood Park, and her dad, Carl Hughes, 84, the retired president of Kennywood, at the carousel, one of the oldest rides at the amusement park, where her dad put her on a horse many times when she was a youngster.
Mary Lou Rosemeyer's dad, Carl Hughes, is the same age as the Jack Rabbit roller coaster in the park. Her dad and the legendary wooden coaster will be 85 years old in July, and they might even have a combined party.

Kennywood Park in West Mifflin -- home of wooden roller coasters, the steel coaster Phantom's Revenge, water rides and an old-fashioned feel that have made it a favorite for decades -- opens Saturday.
Entrance gates open at 10:30 a.m. daily and rides start operation at 11 a.m. Closing times vary with weather and crowd conditions, but closing is generally at 10 p.m.

Kennywood Entertainment Co. continues to bank property around the landmark amusement park for future expansion.
The West Mifflin amusement park already has bought 15 acres and is acquiring another 28 acres, all in Duquesne. The land, purchased for $2.6 million, is part of its long-range master plan to expand when the Mon Fayette Expressway is built.